Pat Summitt has a word of advice for Glory Johnson.
The Tennessee women's basketball coach has uttered it countless times and likely will repeat it after the starting forward's day against Rutgers on Sunday at New York's Madison Square Garden.
"My word with her is 'composure,' '' Summitt said on Monday.
Johnson's strong start this season has been a testament to self-restraint along with self-improvement. But early foul trouble against the Scarlet Knights limited her to four first-half minutes and set the stage for a roller coaster ride of an afternoon.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore made up for lost time in the second half by scoring all 10 of her points and grabbing six of her seven rebounds in a 68-54 victory. Three of her baskets came with UT fending off a Rutgers rally, including a 17-foot jumper to start the second half's scoring. Her pass set up teammate Alyssia Brewer for a basket during this stretch.
She also played nearly nine minutes down the stretch with four fouls.
At the same time, Johnson rushed two layup attempts, missing easy shots. Furthermore, she drew two charging fouls on plays that recalled the reckless abandon of her freshman season.
The Lady Vols are back home in advance of Wednesday's game against Louisville at Thompson-Boling Arena. Summitt plans to watch video with Johnson and talk to her. In the process, she will heed the advice she gives.
"As I approach her and talk to her about it, I try to stay calm myself,'' Summitt said.
Johnson was visibly upset on the bench in the first half after drawing both early fouls while trying to set screens. Combined with the second-half charges, all four of Johnson's fouls counted among her six turnovers.
"I was upset,'' Johnson said. "I never had back-to-back screen fouls. I kind of was unsure what I was doing wrong. I was kind of confused not knowing why I was getting fouls called on me but just knowing that without me in there, I'm not helping my team."
Summitt reviewed the game video and said the first call was correct. She questioned the second call but conceded, "(Johnson) reached, then she backed off."
Staying Fresh: The Lady Vols lifted weights and did some other conditioning Monday, but they didn't practice. With UT playing three games in seven days and a showdown at No. 2 Stanford looming on Saturday, Summitt thinks less is more.
"We have to have our legs and our minds,'' Summitt said. "I want fresh legs and fresh minds."
Notebook: Tennessee leapfrogged Notre Dame by one point and moved up to No. 3 in the Associated Press' weekly top 25 national poll. UT hasn't been ranked this high since the final poll of 2007-'08.
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Comments » 15
98reax writes:
The game flow was like night to day, in comparison when Glory left the court with 2 fouls. The offense became somewhat stagnant without her. I was really impressed by the hussle in the first half, the way the ladies were going at it, hitting the floor for loose balls, just playing 'in your face' D. There was a marked let-up, however, when Rutgers began to score some buckets. I think the LVs expended a tremendous amount of energy, albeit, controlled as the game got underway. MSG would do that to most of us down south. Wow! What a venue for the ladies!
Second half showed a renew energy and the game was pretty interesting. Angie had to fight for every inch of space she worked from. She's one tough cookie for a little blonde gal. I'm liking the potential I see in Taber Spani. She seems so comfortably stonefaced, like "there's nothing to it, baby." It's going to be fun watching her grow into Pat's style of play.
They, especially Cain seemed to go cold with her shooting touch. Fatigue looked to be a big part of that cold spell. But, I was pleased with Brewer's minutes. I wish she would keep that darn mouthpiece in her piehole. Distracts me somewhat : =0
VolWoman writes:
I love to watch Glory play. I believe she will become one of the best Lady Vols ever. Brewer's play this year is very encouraging. I loved seeing her & Kelly on the court at the same time.
Poor Angie had a player all over her the entire game. I can't believe she wasn't getting any foul calls in her favor. And I agree on Spani-she has a lot of composure for a freshman.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
You really have to go back to perhaps a Melissa McCray or a Tamika Catchings to find an LV athlete equal to Glory, IMHO. When her head catches up with her physical ability, she will be a sight to behold!
tonyvick#213307 writes:
when it's all said and done Johnson will be the closest thing we will see to Tameka Cathings, which ain't too shabby. the ref's have to decide she is a player deserving to be on the floor and not call petty fouls against her
kazoo writes:
I love the games of Bjorklund and Spani, but the problem is that neither of them has the quicks to to really excel as perimeter players! They will struggle to get shots against teams with good perimeter defenders--that's just a fact. Look at Spani: 1 shot made against Rutgers, Bjorklund took 8 shots, made 3, in 40 minutes of action. Each is a wonderful shooter, but they are too big to create effectively against decent defenders. If the Vols had a good point guard, as they should, Spani would be coming off the bench and Stricklen would move to the 2 or 3 position and this team would be really good. The Vols don't have a guard in their starting lineup, which is highly unusual, to say the least, but it's working for the time being, thanks to Stricklen's versatility.
As for Glory and her charging calls, I didn't see them, but my view is that officials should pretty much stop calling charges altogether. I reckon that about 80 percent of all "charges" are actually blocks by the defender, but often the charge get called because the offensive player has "knocked down" the defender--and as a result of all these charges a lot of good offensive players get saddled with fouls they don't deserve. How many times have we seen replays of charge calls--and in the vast majority of them the defender is moving into the offensive player--leaning in/stepping in late.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
It seemed to me on the replay that the two charges against Glory were properly called, but I agree completely with the general point that the refs in women's basketball are not nearly equal to the quality of the athletes and games.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I get your point about Bjorklund and Spani, but they are what they are. The solution to that is to play inside-out, i.e., pound the ball inside to Cain, Brewer, and Johnson--and hopefully, someday soon, Baugh--and make the defenders collapse inside. If the post players don't have single coverage, they can pass the ball back out, giving Angie and Taber open looks. With their current team, they would be better off, IMHO, to concentrate on passing the ball inside rather than driving it inside. Bass can take it inside, but she can't do much once she is there. Only Stricklen can drive effectively for the score, though Williams may be able to do it eventually.
I have commented elsewhere on the deficiencies of the refs in the women's game, but the charge-block RULE is slightly different in the women's game. At least at one time, the rule was that if the offensive player makes contact with the chest of the defender, it is an offensive foul. The reason for this is that the defender is not obligated to make room for the offensive player, so it is up to the offensive player to avoid the defender. Any contact from the back or side, on the other hand, is almost automatically a foul on the defender. If there is anyone on here who knows the applicable rule, please tell me if I have stated it correctly. This is the way it was explained to me by an official some years ago, so I would be interested to know if that is still the case.
xvolx writes:
The two screens called for fouls were the result of poor tech. She sets the screen and keeps moveing. That is a block. The charges were the result of a quicker defender establishing position. Glory has good running speed, but she doesn't have the foot speed of a 5-6 guard. She appears to be willing to learn, unlike last year when she sulked a lot.
BigRMan writes:
If Glory Johnson is even half the player Catchings was and has become the Lady Vols will have a true diamond gem of a player!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Possibly, now that I think about it. The one I am thinking about played in the early 90's, I think, and was an original member of the WNBA. She was a guard, lightning quick, one of the fastest women with the ball I had ever seen. Are we talking about the same player? Am I hallucinating(;-P)?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
True that! Glory doesn't have all of Tamika's full tool-kit, at least not yet, but the match is pretty close in physical talent, IMHO. Glory has some way to go to be as comfortable on the perimeter as Tamika is, but from 15' on in, Glory can do it any way you want it, offensively and defensively.
tonyvick#213307 writes:
I agree with you. Tameka Cathings is my all time favorite player. And if Glory continue to listen to Pat she is the one player that can get to at least half of what Cathings is.
CTOWNICON writes:
Nikki McCray is the lady and I think she played for the Washington Mystics when she was in the WNBA! I am so impressed with Glory this year! I always saw the talent that she possessed and knew she could develop into a good player. The girl can rebound with the best of them and when she cleans up the jagged edges in her game, she will be awesome.
Taber and Angie are gonna need screens set for them, the proper way. Ray on rutgers team was lighting it up but her team was setting good screens for her. Angie and Taber are capable of the same thing if they can get open. Brewer is showing signs of life again and she must keep this up because she is going to be needed this season. Brewer is good but she just needs to be more consistant with her game. I like the fact that stricklen is penetrating a little more this season.
utfan00 writes:
Sound johnlg00#206211 knows more about the team than Pat Summit. He should sit down with her about all the inside out plays, Kelly and Brewer
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Pat has said much the same thing. The problem is getting the players to execute consistently. My post was in response to another poster who was saying that Angie and Taber don't have the foot-speed to get their own shots. If they are good shooters, which they are, but can't get shots with one-on-one moves, there are only two possible solutions: 1) set screens to free them on the perimeter or 2) the inside-out game I described earlier. Pat is the greatest; I learned much from her.
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